All the speculation has ended, and it’s now official: the Georgia State Panthers will be leaving the Colonial Athletic Association to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2013, which coincides with the school’s 100-year anniversary of its founding. The news became official at 2:00 p.m. Monday during a campus press conference, which included GSU President Mark Becker and Athletics Director Cheryl Levick along with Sun Belt Conference President Dr. Jack Hawkins and Commissioner Karl Benson. The move to leave the CAA comes as no surprise from a football standpoint as GSU has been looking to move to an FBS conference, which allows them to play in postseason bowls and generate larger guaranteed revenue.
“Academically, athletically and financially, the Sun Belt has never been stronger than it is today,” Sun Belt Conference President Dr. Jack Hawkins said. “However, we add another strength to the conference with this announcement.”
The Sun Belt Conference is one of 11 conferences to play in the FBS, along with the Bowl Championship Series. Georgia State returns to a conference that it helped start in 1976 as one of six charter members. After leaving the conference in 1981, GSU joined the Trans America Athletic Conference, which is now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference, and in 2005, the school moved to the CAA.
“With our re-entry into the Sun Belt we look forward to adding value to the conference,” Georgia State President Mark Becker said. “We look forward to the gains accruing to Georgia State as a full member institution in the Sun Belt Conference.”
A move to the Sun Belt brings new financial opportunities for the school with guaranteed games, national television and postseason bowl revenue generated by joining an FBS conference. The change also alleviates the travel burden on the athletes, coaches and fans as much of the Sun Belt is spread throughout the Southeast and Central regions of the country, with the furthest distance being in Denver, Colo. The CAA spread through much of the Atlantic coast, going as far north as Maine. Staying closer to home will help draw more fans on the road and will keep students’ classes missed to a minimum.
“Under President Becker’s leadership, Georgia State University is growing in size and stature as one of the nation’s leading urban research institutions,” GSU Athletics Director Cheryl Levick said. “So it is only fitting that our athletic program moves to the top level of college athletics.”
Georgia State football is coming off its second season under coach Bill Curry and will start a Sun Belt schedule in 2013 and be eligible for the postseason in 2014. GSU basketball is coming off a solid 2011-12 season that saw them post a 22-12 record, which earned them a postseason berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
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